Two Sundays ago we hit up the Richmond Craft Mafia’s craft show called Handmade Holiday. As one of my friends described it, it was like Etsy… only in real life.
We love supporting/meeting local (and not so local) artists and artisans, so we went expecting to see some cool things, bump into a few people we knew, and maybe even to snag a gift or two. Instead, we saw LOTS of cool stuff, bumped into DOZENS of friends and blog buddies, and snagged a BUNCH of gifts. Well, I guess I should clarify. They were gifts for ourselves. Here’s a snapshot of our handmade bounty after we returned home and laid everything out on the counter:
1. A print from Zou Zou’s Basement ($25) which is a print of a mixed media rabbit painting. We thought it was fun and colorful. We actually almost got this elephant, but at the last minute Clara said “Bunny rabbit!” and the switch was made.
2. A robot coloring sheet from Turnerbots which they threw in for free after we purchased a bunch of ornaments (see #5). So nice! Clara had a blast coloring it when we got home because, as you may have here in our desk-building post, Clara is a coloring fanatic as of late.
3. Two small canvas paintings from Amy Keith Barney ($15 each) who mainly specializes in stained glass – but the bright colors of these felt perfect for Clara’s frame wall. And can you beat $15 for such amazing little original paintings?
4. A Virginia-shaped ornament from Funnel Cloud Studio ($7). The ornament had us at hello (yay maps!) and we almost got one of her Virginia prints too, but managed to practice a smidge of restraint. She has Maryland and DC ones too for anyone interested…
5. Ceramic letter ornaments from the aforementioned Turnerbots ($7 for all four), one each for Clara, me, Sherry and Burger. Turnerbots mainly specializes in candy-colored pottery like these cool vases and cheeky robots:
6. A crudload of business cards for all sorts of vendors – every booth was seriously worth stopping for!
7. A letterpress card from Almanac Industries (free) who had one of the coolest booths at the whole fair. You could just feel their passion for what they do.
And we loved that our initials were coincidentally on display (doesn’t take much to excite us). Well Sherry’s, Burger’s and mine were – and if that P had been a C we really would have been downright giddy.
And since we couldn’t support every vendor that we admired with a purchase, we thought we’d at least show them some love by sharing their cool stuff here. Like these “Dangerous Animal” notebooks from MonkeyDogStudio. Sherry and I disagree on which one we think is the funniest. I vote the octopus with the ninja throwing stars, but Sherry died when she saw the squirrel with the pistol.
Speaking of cheeky animals, there were also cool woodblock prints and cards featuring some chic birds with fresh, punny attitudes (Yo Momma!) from Bowerbox Press.
Continuing the theme of craftiness with a sense of humor, we loved all of the funny crocheted items – like this jellyfish and ray-gun from Needle Noodles…
… and more jellyfish (this time as ornaments) and a crocheted conch shell from Lazymuse Productions.
There were also this awesome assortment of colorful faux antlers (they were made of resin) from The New Woodsman. Predictably, Sherry my Jersey wife was most in love with the metallic gold ones (sadly not pictured).
Illegible Ink‘s print of vegetables was really charming and detailed. You could stand there and study it for hours. There was a really funny meat one too.
There was also lots of jewelry at the fair, like this peapod necklace from Lucky Accessories that Sherry mentally bookmarked for the day that we have more than one child (it was available with one pea, but she figured she’d rather wait and beef up her pea quotient before jumping the peapod gun).
We also saw some familiar faces, like Love Elaine (who gave away a fabric wreath back in May). She had lots of Christmas fabric goods, but what caught our eye most was this festive kids apron. Clara would look so cute rocking this while making cookies.
And there was Phil Barbato, another giveaway alum, who makes these funky ape stuffed animals amongst other things (Clara said “buh-bye monkey!” when we walked away):
We actually bought a print from Phil this summer at another Richmond art event (the First Friday Art Walk), but it wasn’t until returning home with our new crafty treasures that we finally figured out the perfect place to hang it along with two of our Handmade Holiday finds (don’t mind the frames, they’re just what we had around).
This little frame collection is on the short wall right outside Clara’s bedroom door, opposite the playroom door. We thought she’d love saying “Hi” and “Goodnight” to the bunny, but instead her favorite thing to do is point at the robots and say “Color! Color!” Figures…
So that was our adventure in handmade arts and crafts. Are any of you going handmade for the holiday this year? We’d love to hear about any craft fairs in your area, or if you’ve snagged any crafty gifts or items for yourself or the ones you love.
Pssst- For more gift-related fun, check out Mrs. Limestone’s post about the whole Secret Santa thing that Sherry and a bunch of other fellow bloggers have been having fun with. You can even guess who had who to win a prize over there!
That bunny and elephant print are awesome! Thanks for sharing all these great finds :)
hi regan, i’m so glad you like my animal collages!
So fun!
I didn’t go to any craft fairs, but I did buy about 99% of my gifts on Etsy this year. I’m pretty proud of that, if I can pat my own back ;)
That’s awesome!
xo,
s
Right on!!! What a great goal! =)
I’d say I’ll try that next year… my only thing is all the shipping… unless its all from one shop.
Great idea though!
That sounds like a great day! I can literally lose days on Etsy so I probably would’ve lost my cool at this fair. My vote for the deadliest animal notebook is that chipmunk holding the axe haha.
Haha- they were all hilarious!
xo,
s
Ah man, I didn’t know about this show. Sadness. Does the craft mafia do any others?
They had a Spring Bada-Bing in April with some of the same vendors – I hope they do that again! :)
Here’s their event page: http://www.richmondcraftmafia.com/events.htm
I think they will since this holiday one was so packed! Can’t wait!
xo,
s
The Richmond Craft Mafia will be back with the Spring Bada Bing show in April! (We’re already in the planning stages if you can believe it.) Keep an eye on http://springbadabing.com/index.htm, we’ll start updating it as soon as we finalize the date.
Thanks!
I answered my own question – they do a Spring bada-bing show. I’m there.
Wahoo! Here’s hoping we’ll bump into you!
xo,
s
I love everything you picked up! My favourite would probably be the bunny print.
P.S. I started watching New Girl. (I think you guys mentioned before that you were watching it.) Best. Show. Ever.
-Diana
thanks diana, the bunny print is REALLY popular. in the photo i was looking at when i did the collage the bunny had his tongue sticking out a little, i put it in the collage also.
Love the Virginia ornament! Wish this craft fair would make its way up to VT ;)
Depending on where you are in VT, you could try the TWIST fair in Northampton, MA, which is twice a year. Great stuff and a very cool place. An hour or so south of Brattleboro down 91. They have a site w/ links to all their amazing vendors.
My husband and I are big into things like this. It almost seems like it would be worth a trip down from NY to check it out. That crocheted conch shell is awesome! What an amazing display of talent.
I wish I lived in Richmond so I could have gone to that! Everything you guys pointed out is awesome! I especially love the pea pod necklace.
my town has something like this in september each year. i have missed both so far (sad face) but love the idea of going out and supporting local artists. hopefully next year will be my year to make an appearance (and buy some fun loot!)
The notebooks are your monogram (like if you ever had towels done). Sometimes it’s nice to have something just for the adults.
Haha, it’s true- but there’s that B in there too.
xo,
s
Awesome stuff! Lve the bunny rabbit :)
P.S. Small typo on #2 “as you have my have”
Thanks Vickie! Off to fix that!
xo,
s
thanks vickie! someone pointed out that he is actually a hare.
WOW! You guys got some amazing things! I am so bummed I missed that! UGH!! Next year for sure!
<3
Such a great show! We actually had our morning after wedding brunch there, so anytime we go it’s fun and little nostalgic (6yrs later!) I missed that bunny print or it would have been mine!! Holy cow! ADORABLE! And it would go on our nursery gallery wall! Can’t wait for spring!!
Nice write up!
More bunny prints are available!
LOVE the zouzou print and the canvas paintings – actually I really love everything you showed (all the bright colors). Those knitted ornaments are incredible. Thanks for sharing such great finds!
I will check out some of their Etsy sites!
I love that you guys are so enthusiastic about supporting small artisans—it makes me super happy and in turn like I want to support you guys more.
Oh, and my favorite is the red squirrel (?) with the ax. I cracked up. The gray squirrel with the gun is a close second. Then again, how can you deny the greatness of a ninja octopus?! All so good.
Also also – they seriously call themselves the Craft Mafia?! You have no idea how amazing I feel that to be. They have stolen my heart. I want to be an honorary member.
Oh, and best blog post sentence. I don’t know why but something about that sentence is utterly funny.
“…but she figured she’d rather wait and beef up her pea quotient…”
Haha, isnt’ that the best name ever?! It’s such a fun event- and this year it was packed! Yay.
xo,
s
Love! I picked up a burlap coffee sack wallet for my boyfriend, a roaster with lamplighter. Thanks for showcasing RVA’s local talent!
I don’t know what it says about me that my favorites are the dangerous animals and the funky ape. Of course, as a child my favorite movie was Labyrinth.
My kids are going to be warped from birth.
Such cool stuff though! I wound up buying most of my presents off of Etsy this year, so this would have been right up my alley.
We went to the handmade Holiday and I picked up that Virginia map from funnelcloud! I love it and it will be my first framed item for my YHL-inspired gallery wall :) I also picked up the red version of that VA ornament…
Too funny! Great VA-loving minds think alike!
xo,
s
Thanks so much, Kristen! It was so much fun to create art for my home state and to be supported by other Virginians. Thanks for buying handmade!
Wahoo! So fun to see you here Rachel! Love your stuff so much!
xo,
s
That’s too funny! Over here at Rental House Rules, we’re doing a totally-DIY holiday season.
We made some awesome herb-infused-oils for family & friends as gifts this year, AND we’re posting soon with an iced sugar cookie recipe that turns out treats good enough to wrap up as gifts!! (For real. People beg us to make them.)
Come on over & check it out!
http://rentalhouserules.wordpress.com/2011/12/19/its-oil-in-the-presentation/
PS — Now I feel bad for bagging on crochet. The stuff you guys saw was totally creative & awesome. Not toilet-paper-cozyish at all!!!
So cute!
xo
s
I love the rabbit print. So vibrant and fun!
Darn! I wish they had something like this where I live! :-( But I do regularly “live” on Etsy and bought about 25% of my gifts from people there this year. Next year my goal is 50%! :-)
And for the record, that bunny with the pink background is the cutest ever! Look at it’s nose! I can’t stand the cuteness! And Sherry, I agree with you (sorry John). A squirrel holding a gun?! But of course! :-)
thanks kristen! i am working on another one!
Ugh I wish we had fun stuff like that in the old folk town of Fort Myers :( Love all of your purchases!
I went to the Craftsmen’s Christmas Classic art & craft festival here in Columbia, SC back in November and bought a few things, but I’ve also been busy knitting this sweater for my best friend’s little boy for Christmas.
http://truebluecurlytop.blogspot.com/2011/12/christmas-sweater.html
So cute! Good luck and happy knitting!
xo,
s
I love everything you found! Especially that mixed media bunny! Indie craft fairs are my favorite. We recently attended the Detroit Urban Craft Fair which had a TON of great stuff. Here are some goodies we purchased: http://www.traceytilley.com/Site/Blog/Entries/2011/12/6_DUCF%2C_Noel_Night%2C_and_Furniture_Switcheroo.html
Such great finds! And you’ll never believe this, but growing up I had at least 100 trolls. They were my version of Beanie Babies and I collected the heck out of them. Haha.
xo,
s
And oh yeah, I don’t know how you didn’t come home with that precious little apron for Clara!
I know, right?! It was hard to hold back!
xo,
s
So fun! Richmond is so Awesometown (literally)!
Agreed! Yay Richmond!
xo,
s
I got the little orange notebook with the rabbit and the rifle. A little stocking stuffer for a friend who is mad about anything orange.
So cute!
xo,
s
LOVE all of these…especially the notebooks. The axe-holding squirrel might be my personal favorite. We have something like that in Baltimore, too, called the Charm City Craft Mafia. I’ve been meaning to go to one of their shops for years, but I always miss it for some reason!
Not next time. Nope. ;)
xoxo
Linda
The Bowerbox Press link was missing, here is their site! http://www.bowerbox.com/ Love the birds prints :]
Thanks! Off to add that!
xo,
s
this is the first year i have ever made any of my christmas gifts, and it’s all thanks to you guys! the combination of your blog and pinterest (which i also found out about through you) has turned me into quite the crafting queen! thanks so much, and happy holidays!
p.s. i printed off my version of your calendar last night at kinkos, and it turned out even more amazing that i had expected!
So glad! Wahoo!
xo,
s
Awesome post!
How can i get my hands on 2 small canvas paintings from Amy Keith Barney likes yours? Her Etsy shop only has the stained glass….
Also, do you recall the price of those fabulous antlers?? Love!
I don’t remember the price of the antlers but maybe if you go to that site there’s info or an email addy to contact? As for the Amy Keith Barney canvases, I would email her to see if she can whip some up for you! She was so nice (prego with a little boy and had an older daughter). Love her!
xo,
s
Hi Andrea,
You can see all of the vendors here:
http://www.richmondhandmadeholiday.com/p/crafters-designers.html
The artist’s name is under their photo, and that’s a link to whatever website they provided to us. I would send an email to both artists, as I can’t find the answers your looking for myself. Good luck, and thanks for your love for the show!
-Meghan (from the Richmond Craft Mafia)
Wahoo! Craft Mafia in the house! Thanks for stopping in with info, Meghan!
xo,
s
Oh! I definitely want to hit up the spring show! We have lots of craft shows around here (Pittsburgh) but nothing quite as cool as what you guys found!
delightful!
I love that it’s called the “Craft Mafia”! I assumed it was a joke at first, then I saw the picture with the flier. Too funny!
I am hand painting some canvases for my mom and sister this year. My moms has a graphic Moroccan-esque print in teal and gray (colors of the moment!) and my sister’s is neon leopard (she has a thing for animal print). I think handmade gifts are just that much more special.
You guys got really awesome stuff. I am going to buy our little girl some prints from Zouzousbasement. So cute!
come on in!!
I don’t know where to start with the love for this craft show you went to… I am insanely jealous that my little old Roanoke doesn’t get anything quite that good. We get a craft show, but not on that scale of finds! I think the Turnerbots and Lucky Accessories are tied for first right now! Thanks so much for sharing!
Is this an annual thing? I would love to make the trek to Richmond to see it…
Yes, we believe they have one in the winter and spring- but since it was so packed maybe they’ll have one in the fall and summer too!
xo,
s
Hi Teresa,
I’m just chiming in to say that yes, this is an annual show. We do one show in April called Spring Bada Bing, and the December show called Handmade Holiday. We would love to see you at a future show!
Thanks!
-Meghan (from the Richmond Craft Mafia)
wow! What an awesome craft fair! I vote the mouse (is it a mouse?) with the axe as the funniest card!
I had a dream one night about giving out custom necklaces so I had them made by a shop on Etsy this year for 7 special people on my list… Sisters, Mom, Grandma & Yaya. They turned out amazing and I am so excited to give them out!
So sweet! I love it!
xo,
s
sorry, notebook not card.
I’m doing an assortment of handmade holiday gifts. I posted about a few but a few have to wait until after Christmas (the recipients read the blog!)
Baby’s first Christmas ornament-
http://casa-de-christine.blogspot.com/2011/12/babys-first-christmas-ornament.html
Photo book for my niece-
http://casa-de-christine.blogspot.com/2011/12/another-handmade-gift.html
and date nights for the fiancee-
http://casa-de-christine.blogspot.com/2011/12/date-nights.html
I love doing handmade things- so much more personal! I love all your finds at the art show! Looks like it had some fantastic stuff!
So many awesome projects!
xo,
s
went straight to etsy before reading the rest of this post and snatched up the bunny! cant wait for him to hop to south carolina.
i mailed him an hour ago! he will be there tuesday.
Have you guys considered hanging any framed art at Clara’s eye-level? It can really add to the sense of “belonging” in the home (just like a tiny table helps!). I think I remember your entry/hallway frames go down pretty low, but I don’t remember offhand. Just a thought for helping Clara to grow a deeper appreciation for art. We have low art, and my son spends time every now and then closely studying the prints and paintings – especially when we change out the prints.
Oh yes, the frame wall has her special zone which is all down at her level- and we frame things she loves (like her friend’s photos, a plate full of cookies for Santa – since she loves Santa, etc). We like to rotate things out often for her since she loves when we change them!
xo,
s
Ha! How sweet… thought I’d share the thought, and you guys have it covered! Christmas blessings to you guys; I love your haul from the craft show!
Aw thanks Renee! Merry Christmas to you and yours!
xo,
s
Ooh, I am in LOVE with that bunny! And on the hot pink… wowza. It kills me. Love your finds, and those painted antlers you pointed out are so fun!
We have a Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago every year, and it’s just as your friend said: Etsy in real life. We were vendors for the second year in a row, selling our pet portraits!
http://www.yellowbrickhome.com/2011/12/06/renegade-word/
And we scooped up a few things for ourselves, such as a chalkboard skull of course:
http://www.yellowbrickhome.com/2011/12/14/do-you-want-a-painting-joan-cusack/
Love these fairs at this time of year! And it’s so amazing to support small indie crafters and businesses.
That’s so much fun! I love those pet portraits of yours so much!
xo,
s
I was just flipping through the Get Organized 2012 Magazine and some of your home pictures are in it!! Beautiful as always : )
Aw thanks! We haven’t even seen that yet. Can’t wait!
xo,
s
Love all of these! Does the craft show have a website with all the vendors to potentially order online? You guys have the best finds and have totally inspired me to give better presents! Out here in Chicago its really easy to get wrapped up (pun intended) in buying a present for someone based on the convienence of the purchase verse what it would actually mean to them. Have a very Merry Christmas!
We linked to as many folks in this post as we could (check out the links in the first sentence for the craft show and the links throughout the post for each vendor). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
There’s a list with links to all the Handmade Holiday vendors on the Richmond Craft Mafia webpage:
http://www.richmondhandmadeholiday.com/p/crafters-designers.html
Hi Christina,
You can check out all of the vendors from our show here:
http://www.richmondhandmadeholiday.com/p/crafters-designers.html
The vendors name is under their photo, and clicking on their name will take you to whatever website or Etsy page they provided to us.
Thanks for the love!
-Meghan (from the Richmond Craft Mafia)
I love craft fairs!! I am seriously in love with the dangerous animals. I’m with Sherry – the squirrel with the gun is HILARIOUS! :)
PS – I’m… umm… GETTING TO MEET YOU AT HAVEN! And I may or may not be a smidge excited about it :) WOOT!!!
Haha- so excited!!! We can’t wait.
xo,
s
That colorful C on Clara’s door is adorable! Where did you get that?
That was a clearance find at Anthropologie this summer!
xo,
s
Eeek how awesome! I love this sort of thing but sometimes they’re really hit or miss – looks like you guys found some really awesome stuff! I went to one in Brooklyn last weekend at a school and it was sadly (and TOTALLY unexpectedly) a bit of a dud.